


i need you by my side, we get high on life, until the day we die

by justmyrthe



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - how does one even call this lmao, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends to Lovers, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Coming Out, Dragons, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay George Russell, Gay Male Character, George Russell is truly an idiot, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentions of Death, Mutual Pining, Pansexual Alexander Albon, Pansexual Character, and of course it's alex who has to save george, how did i forget that lmao, kind of??? but it's still a modern setting so idk, of course, pretty sure i am like the only person who uses those tags lmao, that isn't an official tag? a shame, this is honestly just the plot of george and the dragon with a few changes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28384500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justmyrthe/pseuds/justmyrthe
Summary: George opens the newspaper on a random page, knowing he has the right page after doing this every month ever since some of his friends turned 18. As usual, he’s just scanning the list, looking for names he knows, but because he’s still a bit sleep-drunk, he closes it without fully recognising one of the names.What.Every month, four names are drawn and the owners of those have to go, to the dragon, to be eaten by him as a sacrifice, to keep the city safe. George has never been scared of this, but when one day Alex' name is drawn, everything changes.Or, a George and the Dragon au, but it's actually Alex who does the saving.
Relationships: Alexander Albon/George Russell
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	i need you by my side, we get high on life, until the day we die

**Author's Note:**

> this is actually just my latin project from last trimester that got way out of hand, but once i realised the main character's english name is george, i knew i wanted to write a galex fanfiction with the legend as plot, so here we are. 
> 
> a huge thank you to [festusgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestusGirl) for betaing this, without you this would have been an even bigger mess! :)
> 
> at the start of every paragraph, there's the name of a song in bold italics. these songs fit the vibe of the paragraph (some fit lyrics-wise as well) and make sure to listen to them for the full experience!
> 
> title from high on life by martin garrix
> 
> tw // mentions of death and graphically depicted violence

**_eternally – tomorrow x together_ **

Years and years ago, the city where George and Alex live was a beautiful and peaceful village. Everyone knew each other and most importantly, everyone knew the stories about the caves close to the village. A few years before, a man had gone to the caves and never had come back. No one knew what happened at the cave and where the man had gone, but there was one thing everyone agreed on: the caves were dangerous and all people living in the villages should learn about the dangers of the caves at a young age, to avoid more people disappearing into the caves.

But as people heard about how beautiful and peaceful the village was, it started to grow into a city and suddenly there were too many people to tell about the dangers of the caves. That was when another man went to the caves, not knowing what happened all those years ago. But instead of disappearing, the man came back and told everyone about the dragon he came across there. He said he had talked with the dragon and claimed he was very friendly.

Of course, people didn’t believe this, so they wanted to see for themselves. Every day, multiple people left to go to the caves, some of them never coming back. This went on and on until the dragon asked one of his visitors where all those people came from.

“Oh, I think everyone here comes from the city. You’ve never seen it? It’s really close!” Interested, the dragon asked the visitor to lead him to the city. The visitor agreed and went back to the city, the dragon following them closely.

As soon as they reached the city, there was no stopping it anymore. The dragon went crazy from seeing all those people and smelling them and realised he was actually really hungry. He started attacking people, wanting to eat them. On that tragic day, eleven people died because they were eaten by the dragon or because of their injuries, another twenty-three being injured as well.

In the end, the military needed to be called and they managed to anaesthetise the dragon. They tied the numb body down and brought him to the mayor of the city. There, they waited until the dragon woke up again and tried to talk to him.

After countless discussions and lots of screaming and shouting, they managed to reach a compromise: every week, a young person would be sent to the caves, free for the dragon to eat or keep him company. Who that was, was determined by the mayor drawing four names from a huge container containing the names of all the inhabitants who were between 18 and 21 year old at the start of every month.

After your name got drawn, you had at least one week to say goodbye to your loved ones and prepare for you death, up until four weeks. You had the chance to go to the caves yourself, but if they noticed you weren’t going, they transported you to the caves and made sure you actually went in there.

There had been people not willing to go who went into hiding, but after this happened two weeks in a row, the dragon had become mad and demanded food, threating to pay the city a visit if there wouldn’t be someone in the third week. Right then, people realised that going there was a sacrifice for the city and that not going there would make people despise you forever, because you were the one that had put the city in danger. This pressure made sure everyone went there, no matter how badly they didn’t want to.

When he was younger, George wondered why no one moved away from the city, as their kids would be in indirect danger for three years straight, but after more than 18 years of living there, he understood. He himself fell in love with the city as well, growing up there with parents who had lived there for their whole lives as well, who always showed him the most beautiful parts of the city. The chances of being drawn from the container were a risk he’d take if that meant he could stay in the city.

George actually doesn’t really worry about getting drawn. After all, on average more than twenty thousand people between the ages of 18 and 21 live in the city, which meant the chances he has to go there are really small, small enough to not worry about it.

He has never actually asked him about it, but he’s pretty sure his best friend Alex doesn’t really worry about it either. After all, he’s two years older than him and survived most of his period already. George has to admit, he’s more scared for Alex to go than for himself to go. He doesn’t know if he would survive without him. The older has always been the one he could fall back on, the only constant in his life and he wouldn’t know what to do without him.

**_wayo – bang ye dam_ **

On a bright summer day in the middle of their summer break, George comes downstairs still a bit sleep-drunk and gets greeted excitedly by his mother. He sighs. “How can you be this cheerful at…” he moves his gaze to the clock. “Nine o’clock.” His mother smiles.

“You’ve never been a morning person, have you? But the newspaper is here, and I’m pretty sure you know which day it is.” His mother hands him the newspaper and George indeed now realises which day it is. It’s the first of the month: the names were drawn from the container yesterday and the names are in the newspaper today, only one of the countless ways to get to know your fate.

“Have you checked it yet?” His mother shakes her head. “I think you would prefer to get to know it yourself first instead of hearing it from me.” George nods. He’d definitely prefer to read it himself. And then freak out for a bit if you know someone. Or if you’re on the list yourself. Before having your parents and your friends all over you because they are going to miss you. Which is, if George thinks about it, pretty fair, since they still have to live without you after you’ve gone.

He opens the newspaper on a random page, knowing he has the right page after doing this every month ever since some of his friends turned 18. As usual, he’s just scanning the list, looking for names he knows, but because he’s still a bit sleep-drunk, he closes it without fully recognising one of the names.

What.

In a split-second, he re-opens the newspaper on the exact same page. There it is. The third name on the list is one he knows. One he knows really well. The black letters spelling out Alexander Albon contrast with the white background and it’s dizzying him. He closes his eyes for a second. Okay. Do not freak out now. But before he knows it, there are tears forming in his eyes and they will come rolling down his cheeks any second.

“Is something wrong, George?” his mother asks, concerned. “Are you on the list?” He can spot a hint of fear in his mother’s voice and she lets out a sigh after he denies it. “It’s Alex”, he explains. His mother’s face softens. “Oh George”, she lets out, voice filled with pity. George smiles softly.

How is he going to survive without Alex? He never actually thought about it, too certain of his name not getting drawn, but now he has to. The older is the one he can fall back on, his tower of strength. And now it will be all gone in three weeks. And his recently developed crush on his best friend won’t really help either…

It was a shock when he realised he had a crush on Alex. Not because of him being a boy, he had known he liked boys for a few years now, but more because of it being Alex, his best friend since forever. He has never come out to him, the topic never really coming up and George feeling like Alex would find out eventually when he would get a boyfriend.

But living without Alex… George had accepted that Alex would never become his boyfriend, the friendship was him too precious to risk it and Alex never showed any signs of liking boys as well so he was pretty sure Alex was straight. Losing him because of this… he doesn’t really know what to do now.

Angrily, he picks up the newspaper and wads it, earning a concerned “George!” from his mother. Then he lets out a long sigh. “I know it’s hard, George”, his mother starts.

“No, you don’t! You’ve never had your best friend dying and nothing to do against it!” he screams and immediately regrets it. His mother only tries to help and he’s shouting at her. “Sorry mum.”

His mother sighs. “Don’t worry George, I get that you’re emotional, but please don’t express it by screaming and shouting at us.” He nods.

“I’m going to go to Alex this afternoon”, he informs his mother. She nods. “Make the next three weeks the best weeks of his life, he deserves it.”

**_eight – iu ft. suga_ **

He knocks on the familiar door of Alex’ house and waits for someone to open, almost sure it will be Alex or his mother opening the door. But instead, it’s Zoe who stands there in the doorway. She looks like she’s been crying and George is sure she has. “I’m sorry”, he starts and sends her a pitying look. 

“I’m sorry as well.” She smiles softly and opens the door a bit more so he can come in. When he arrives in the living room, most of the Albon family look like they have been crying as well. “Hello George!” Alex’ mother exclaims, obviously way less cheerful than usual. “I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the news.” He nods and sighs.

“Unfortunately I have.” He looks at Alex, who’s there as well, but interestingly, the boy doesn’t look as sad as the others and hasn’t cried at all. While Alex usually doesn’t cry either, George did expect him to cry about this.

Alex abruptly stands up from the couch and walks towards him. “Let’s go upstairs”, he suggests and George can only nod, not wanting to argue with him, but not understanding why. He follows Alex back into the hallway, up the stairs.

When they arrive in Alex’ room, Alex lets himself fall on his bed, sighing loudly. “I’m so tired of them”, he complains and George frowns. “Of whom?” he asks, not understanding what Alex is talking about.

“Them, the people downstairs. My family. Even you, a bit”, he explains before sitting back up again. “No offence, but it’s getting annoying. I’m not dead yet, but everyone acts as if I am. Most of them can start crying every second and I don’t want to see them sad.”

George smiles softly, holding back his tears, not wanting to annoy Alex even more. He sits down next to him on the bed and wraps his arms around him, pulling him into a hug. “I’m going to miss you”, he mumbles into his shoulder.

Hugging Alex has always been normal, as well as other forms of intimacy. As little kids, Alex would always wrap his arms around George to protect him, as being two years younger was a lot back then. They grew older, but that habit never changed or vanished, not even when George figured out he liked boys or when he realised he liked Alex. Hugging Alex was like hugging his siblings, never weird or awkward, no matter what others thought about it.

“Don’t say that!” Alex exclaims, slapping George’s arm lightly. “I still have three weeks left, I’m not going to die tomorrow. Appreciate me while I’m still here”, he laughs, but George is not really amused.

“Why are you so cold about it? Alex, I don’t know if you’ve realised it, but you’re going to die in three weeks. Three weeks, and then you’re gone forever! Do you not realise that?” he cries out, clearly annoyed. Alex sighs.

“Yes, I know that, I understand it, I’ve realised it. But I’m trying not to dwell on it for too long, or these three weeks will become very long and however long sounds good, I don’t want to be sad for the last three weeks of my life and I don’t want you to be either.” Alex is getting a bit frustrated, as his explanations don’t really have the effect he wants them to have. A long silence follows, the boys still cuddling, until George pulls out of the hug and takes a shot in the dark.

“I’ll go in your place.”

Alex looks at him in disbelief, expecting him to say “Just kidding!”, but as the silence stays alive, he knows the plot twist isn’t going to come.

“No, you’re not. I don’t allow you to go”, he protests, knowing his opinion is more important. “They chose me, I’ll have to go, that’s how it works.”

“There have been people going for someone else before”, George argues, trying to convince Alex. “You deserve it so much more to live than me, you have so many more people that will miss you, it only makes sense.”

“You really think that way?” Alex whispers, eyes wide open, not believing what he just heard. How can George think about him that way while he deserves everything so much more than Alex does?

“George, let me tell you this. You might not see it, but there are so many people that will miss you, not only just me and your family, but all our other friends, my family as well and so many more. You deserve everything and so much more.”

“Then why don’t I deserve to go in your place?” Alex sometimes really wants to bump George’s head against the wall and have him take his words back. He sighs loudly and wraps his arm around George’s neck, bringing him down onto his bed.

“Watch your words, or I will go tomorrow.” He lets George’s head go so the boy can sit up again, but as he sees George’s shocked face, he takes his words back. “I’m joking George, of course I won’t go tomorrow. Don’t stress about it so much.”

George sighs. It seems as if he actually cares more about Alex being gone forever than the boy does himself. Of course, he’ll have to live without him and that’s going to hurt for a while, but suddenly hearing your life is going to end in three weeks? He doesn’t know how he would have reacted on that, but apparently Alex took it really well, probably better than he would have.

He has thought about telling Alex about his sexuality, as he won’t suddenly have a boyfriend somewhere in the three weeks. But then again, is it that important? He knows he’ll probably feel bad about not telling him the first week, but does it really matter that Alex knows he likes boys?

And if he tells him now, what if Alex won’t react well? That their friendship breaks a few weeks before the end of Alex’ life? He absolutely doesn’t want that.

While George is stuck deep in his thoughts, the boys continue to cuddle, Alex whispering into George’s ear, still trying to change the younger’s mind about going himself.

“I’m still going to miss you”, George exclaims softly, trying to make it seem like he has accepted the reality of Alex having to go, but in the back of his mind, there’s a plan brewing, ready to be put to use.

**_slump – stray kids_ **

The day of Alex’ fate arrives and the only thing George feels is regret. He regrets every time he declined Alex’ offer to spend time together because he was busy. He regrets not spending every single minute of the past three weeks with him. But most of all, he regrets not telling Alex about his sexuality.

Every time it seemed like the perfect opportunity, he either was too scared to tell him or Alex started to ramble about something and George didn’t want to interrupt. The way Alex’ eyes light up when he rambles about something he loves is one of the things he really is going to miss about him, next to his smile, the warmth his voice holds, his amazing cuddlable body (and George knows that really well), the way he cares for his parents, siblings, pets and even George himself and really just everything about that boy.

Even though he still doesn’t agree with Alex going, he has come up with a plan in the past weeks to save him, which unfortunately doesn’t include saving himself, but he really feels like saving Alex is so much more worth to him than his own life, especially because his life won’t be the same without him and he’s not sure he’ll survive without him, so he’d rather throw away his own life instead of letting Alex throw away his and making himself throw his life away anyway.

The plan is simple: he’s going to follow Alex to the cave, because of course, the location of the cave isn’t known, much to George’s annoyance, and jump in front of him when the dragon wants to eat Alex. He is going to push Alex away and almost throw himself in the dragon’s mouth to make sure he really doesn’t eat him.

It could have been way easier if he actually knew the location of the cave, but the only way to know it is by reading the travel directions in the letter every victim gets two days before they have to go. George saw Alex opening and reading his, but he already shredded it before George could even take a look at it.

Now, George has to follow Alex to find the cave, but also make sure he doesn’t see him, because he knows very well, that if Alex sees him, he will immediately send him back to the city and even walk him there to make sure he doesn’t turn around and follow him again.

He’s currently hiding behind a bush close to Alex’ house, not sure when the boy is going to leave. From this point, he can just see the front door, but he knows his plan will fail immediately if he leaves through the back door. Luckily, not even fifteen minutes later, the front door opens and Alex comes walking out of the house, his parents and siblings following him.

He can’t hear their conversation from all the way here, but he knows it’s something along the lines of his family telling Alex they will miss him, because he sees him rolling his eyes and he can almost hear the huff coming out of his mouth. He hugs all of them one last time before turning his back to them. Looking back, he makes his way to the street.

Shit. Alex is coming his way. George didn’t expect that and isn’t prepared at all. He quickly runs around the bushes to make sure he’s still hidden, not trying to alarm Alex by the thumps on the ground. When Alex has passed him, he comes out and sighs. This is going to be a real challenge.

George is sure they’re almost there, it can’t be far anymore. He feels like they’ve crossed the whole forest at this point and he’s actually surprised they aren’t there yet.

He steps on some fallen leaves, causing a rustling sound and he curses. In a reflex, he throws himself on the ground, trying to hide behind the small pile of leaves next to him, but luckily, Alex didn’t hear the rustling or wasn’t alarmed by it.

He gets up again and hastily brushes his pants off, not being very content with all the dirt he has collected on it by lying on the ground again. Then he takes a quick sprint, noticing that the distance between Alex and him has grown a bit because of his dodging methods and not wanting to lose sight of him.

He is immediately brought to a halt again when he notices Alex has stopped. They’re finally there! Alex has stopped right in front of a huge cave and George is honestly questioning how he didn’t see it up until now.

The cave is easily accessible, a huge opening separating two huge rocks, inviting you in. Alex takes a deep breath and looks around one more time, causing George to drop himself on the dirty ground again.

After Alex has entered the cave, George immediately gets up again, letting out a sigh. “Alexander Albon, why do you have to look around so much”, he mumbles, complaining. He doesn’t even care about his pants anymore now, every second counts so he follows Alex into the cave.

**_checkmate – the boyz_ **

The cave is dusty, is the first thing he notices. He coughs a few times, the sudden dust getting to his lungs already, and gets startled by a louder echo than he expected and it throws him off a bit. He stays still for a few seconds, not wanting to alarm Alex, because he’s pretty sure he must have heard as well.

As he is getting further into the cave, he starts to distinguish voices out of the noises going on, surprised when he hears Alex’ as well. He really has to hurry, or it will be too late! He starts jogging, but gets caught off-guard when he suddenly is able to understand the conversation between Alex and the dragon.

“Look who we have here! Is it your turn today, boy?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Well well, don’t be so pessimistic, it’s not every day I am fed such pretty boys.” George has just only heard two sentences coming out of the dragon’s mouth, but he already wants to destroy him. How dare he call Alex pretty! While he is absolutely right, George can’t deny that, it’s not something you want to hear from a dragon who is going to eat you in a few minutes.

“Oh, really?” George can hear the sarcasm in Alex’ voice and smiles. Luckily, Alex hasn’t lost his sense of humour.

“Of course. Now come on, get a little bit closer, I want to take a better look at you.” While Alex is probably slowly getting closer to the dragon, George is also getting closer to them as well. The passage is closing in and the only light is coming from the hole at the end of it, but George knows both Alex and the dragon are there.

He takes a deep breath and steps through it, hoping neither of them see him, so he can hide again and jump in front of Alex when it’s necessary. Fortunately, the two are too busy with each other to notice him, so he can quietly seat himself behind another rock.

“It’s not that bad, is it?” the dragon asks, obviously not with good intensions and George can smell the disgusting smell coming out of his mouth. When was the last time he brushed his teeth?

“No, no, not really.” Alex rolls his eyes and huffs. “So, is something going to happen or am I doomed to just be annoyed because of you for the whole day?”

“Are we impatient? Well, lucky for you, I am getting hungry, so I think it’s time for your end.” It sounds so harsh and George can’t believe the dragon says it like that. Can that guy respect other people’s feelings or is that too hard?

But then he remembers he isn’t supposed to be there and that no one actually cares if you’re nice to people you’re going to eat in a few minutes, and it fits, George supposes, because why would you be nice to your meal?

He sees the dragon open his mouth, taking a deep breath and making sure he can actually eat Alex and without any further thought, George storms into sight, screaming. “I don’t think so!”

The dragon looks up, disturbed, and he can also feel Alex’ eyes burning into his back. “Who are you?” the dragon asks.

“The one you’re actually going to eat.”

It stays silent until the dragon starts laughing. “Oh, is that so?” George nods. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“No, it’s not”, Alex states, before turning George around. “What are you doing here? I told you not to come!”

“Well, he’s here now, and it seems like he’s more willing to die than you are, so I think we should make a deal” the dragon comments. “I’ll eat him and you are free to go. Sounds good, right?”

“No, of course not! He is my fucking best friend, I am not going to let him die!” Alex starts screaming and George isn’t sure whether he has seen him this angry before.

“But I think the same way about you”, he exclaims softly, scared of Alex reaction, but both have heard him.

“As I just said, let’s make a deal then. I get to choose”, the dragon interrupts. “And since you”, he points at George, “seem a bit more muscular than him, I choose you.”

“No!” Alex screams. “No, no, no! I am not going to let you do that. George, please”, he begs and George sighs. _Don’t let him convince you, don’t let him convince you, don’t let him convince you._

“Alex, it’s for the best.” He takes a deep breath and takes a step forward. “Eat me, dragon, then Alex can get out of here.”

Again, the dragon takes a deep breath and his breath messes up his hair, but George really doesn’t care anymore. It should be over very soon, no need to panic. The dragon is slowly coming closer and George suddenly feels like this is the moment.

The moment to come out to Alex.

You see, he had already thought about this. It did feel wrong to go with this secret, but he also didn’t want to ruin any of their last weeks. The very last moment felt weird, but it also felt right, to end his life with telling the truth to his best friend. (Even though you can’t really call it the truth, since he has never lied about it. It just has never come up and George let it that way).

“Alex, I’m gay.”

He prepares for the dragon’s mouth to enclose him. It feels like everything’s happening in slow motion and it can’t happen soon enough for him, but it… simply doesn’t happen. Weird.

Confused, he opens his eyes and instead of staring into the dragons’ throat, he doesn’t even see the dragon anymore and when he wants to ask what is happening, he suddenly hears a loud scream.

He turns around and there’s Alex. Alex with something that looks like the end of a huge sword in his hand. And the other side of the sword is right in the dragon’s palate.

George’s mouth falls open and his eyes widen when Alex pulls the sword out and puts it back into the dragon’s palate, but now half a meter to the left. Another scream leaves the dragon’s mouth and George quickly covers his ears.

Alex keeps on pulling the sword out and putting it back in and George can’t help but feel proud of him. It’s not something Alex would normally do, stabbing someone, but it feels justified here. Then Alex turns around to face him. “Run, George, run!”

“You too!” George shouts and Alex shakes his head. “I’ll be okay, George, please, go!” George sighs and runs back to the entrance of the cave. “Alex, come here!”

He picks up one of the rocks close to the entrance and decides to throw it at the dragon, hopefully causing more damage. The rock hits the dragon’s head and causes a loud grunt and George chuckles triumphantly.

“George, don’t do that, you’ll hit me!” It wasn’t a good idea, turns out and after throwing another rock, Alex curses at him once again. “Leave me to it!”

Instead of stabbing his palate, Alex this time chooses to stab his eyes out. He pulls one of his eyes out of the eye socket and shivers. “Ew”, he says while throwing it into the ditch. He does the same to the other one, leaving some slime on the ground. “Watch out, don’t slip!” George shouts from his hideout and Alex laughs. “Of course not.”

“I’d stab into his brains or heart as well, then you can be sure he’s really dead”, George comments and Alex follows his advice, sticking his sword into the surface right above the eyes. “Do you know where his heart would be?”

George shakes his head and chuckles. “I think we’re good to go now, pretty sure he’s dead.”

Still a bit overwhelmed, he waits for Alex to get to him. He is literally glowing and a boyish smile adorns his face and George sure if he weren’t in love with him already, he would have fallen for him now.

He can’t believe that boy in front of him just killed a dragon. Alex Albon, who would never hurt a fly and is full of so much love, killed someone? But it was for the good and George can’t be prouder of him.

“Let’s leave this disgusting place”, Alex suggests and George nods. Together, they leave the cave in silence.

**_into the i-land - applicants version – i-land_ **

When they are finally back outside, Alex immediately starts softly hitting George. “I told you not to come, George, I told you! But of course, you didn’t listen and nearly killed yourself there. I had a plan and would kill him and no one would be at risk anymore!”

George sighs. “I’m sorry Alex, I just… I really thought I wouldn’t be able to live without you, so I thought… I’d rather not live and save you than live without you?”

Alex hits him one last time and then pulls him into a hug. “You stupid idiot, did you really think I could live without you either? That would have been the end of me as well!”

“I’m just glad you’re safe”, George whispers into Alex’ shoulder. “Same, George, same.”

George pulls away and looks into Alex’ eyes. They are shining like they have never been before and he actually could look at them for ages and not get bored at all.

“Please never do this again, George.” They sit down on a tree trunk, Alex lays his head on George’s shoulder and George chuckles. “I’m not planning on it, but you know, if you plan on murdering anymore dragons?”

Alex playfully hits him and laughs. “I don’t know, maybe I’ll do it if you keep annoying me.” George huffs. “You wouldn’t dare.” This time, it’s George who lays his head on Alex’ shoulder and they sit there in silence.

“Was it true?” Alex suddenly asks and George lifts his head to look at Alex, confused. “About you being gay?” George sighs. Of course, that plan didn’t work out now, but he’s quite glad it didn’t. “Yeah.”

Alex smiles. “Me too.” George’s eyes widen. Alex is gay as well? The confession took him by a surprise and he’s sure Alex can see that, but he keeps on talking. “Well, actually I’m pansexual, but you get what I mean.”

He smiles and George nods. “That’s quite a surprise, isn’t it?” He nods again.

“I don’t know, maybe it was, but it wasn’t something I had really thought about. You being gay or liking boys seemed so unrealistic, that I kind of gave up on you and tried myself to get over you, but that hasn’t really happened yet”, George starts rambling, and without noticing he tells Alex about his crush on him.

“You tried to get over me?” Shit. He finally realises what he told Alex, but it’s too late and Alex already caught on, even faster than he did himself. “Yeah, I did.”

He closes his eyes, preparing himself for the rejection, but Alex takes his hand. “George, open your eyes.” He slowly reopens his eyes and Alex is there, smiling widely and eyes shining brightly.

“Let me tell you this: there’s no need to get over me, I’d be actually really sad if you would have” he explains and George still has to process it. Does that mean… that Alex actually likes him back?

“Do you like me?” he blurts out and he knows he sounds very unbelieving, but Alex liking him is just something he has never imagined could happen. Alex always seemed so unreachable, like someone who would like him platonically, as a friend, as a brother, but not as a lover.

“Yeah George, I do. Can you believe it?” Alex confesses softly, giving him a lovingly smile and George actually can’t believe he’s the one Alex smiles at this way.

“Can I kiss you?” George asks shyly, but instead of an answer, he gets Alex’ lips on his own. Alex’ lips are a bit chapped, probably because of the fight, but George doesn’t care and if this is what heaven feels like, he’d go right now with pleasure.

Alex pulls back. “Is that a clear answer?” he asks and George shakes his head. “No, I asked whether I could kiss you, not whether you wanted to kiss me.” Alex chuckles and presses a kiss on his cheek. “I’d love that, of course.”

This time, it’s George who initiates the kiss and this time, it feels even better and he actually can’t believe he waited so long to do this, because he definitely wants to do this all the time from now on. How did he survive 18 years without ever experiencing this feeling?

He grins and Alex looks so incredibly happy; he can’t believe he is the one that made Alex that happy. Alex wraps his arms around him and kisses his hair before running his fingers through it. “Your hair’s a bit dirty.” George chuckles.

“That might be because I threw myself onto the ground a few times, because a certain someone kept looking around and I had to avoid their gaze”, George explains half-accusingly.

“You followed me? I hadn’t seen you at all!” Alex exclaims and George huffs. “That was like the whole point of throwing myself on the ground when you looked around, because I knew you would have sent me back if you saw me.” Alex chuckles. “True.”

He stands up from the tree trunk and sends George a soft smile. “Let’s go back to the city, I want to see my family.” George smiles and stands up as well. “I’ll go with you.”

**_way back home - shaun_ **

They arrive at the outskirts of the city and George can’t wait until they arrive at the Albon house. Everyone will be so happy to see Alex again and George won’t blame them for that. Alex’ smile started growing with every meter they come closer to his home and George knows it will be huge when they arrive.

George knows they’re only one street away from Alex’ street and he is talking more and more excitedly and just by the way he talks, George knows how much Alex loves his family (even though he already knew that. He loves them. A lot).

“We’re nearly there”, Alex singsongs and he jumps cheerfully, making George crack up. Then he grabs George’s hand, pulling him with him. Together, they arrive at Alex’ house and George kisses him one last time before Alex presses the doorbell.

The door to the hallway opens and George sees it’s Alex’ mother opening the door, but she can only see George and probably expects that he’s coming by to comfort them.

She opens the door while looking down, still not seeing Alex. “Hi mum”, Alex says and now his mother does look up. Her eyes widen in surprise and a gasp escapes her throat.

“Alex! What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be…” She doesn’t want to finish her sentence and George understands. Alex nods.

“Your reputation, Alex, think about it! Everyone will despise you now, you put the safety of the city at risk!” she starts shouting, lightly panicked, but Alex grabs her arm to calm her down.

“Mum… we… I killed it.” Her mouth falls open, obviously not expecting her son to kill the dragon that has terrorised the city for so many years.

“You killed it? But… how?” Alex pulls the sword out of the sword holder hanging at his hip and George is actually surprised he hasn’t noticed it before, but then again, it is the exact same colour as his pants and it was probably Alex’ intention to not let anyone see it.

“With dad’s sword. It a bit bloody now, so maybe you should clean it before we can hang it back up, but I haven’t destroyed it.” Alex’ mother looks at him unbelievingly before pulling him into a hug. “Let’s go inside”, she says.

Alex and George follow her inside, to the living room and right before they come in, Alex’ mum announces them by shouting “guess who’s back!”. George walks behind Alex and enjoys the loud cheering his siblings seeing him again causes.

“How did you get back?” Luca asks after everyone has calmed down again and again, Alex pulls the sword out of the holder. “With dad’s sword. Look, there’s even blood on it.” His brother shivers, but one of his sisters grabs it and starts swinging it around. “Alicia, no”, their mother says strictly, making her put the sword down with a pouting face.

“And what is George doing here?” His oldest sister asks and George chuckles. Alex will probably tell them the very heroic story of how he tried to save him and nearly killed himself instead of just letting him save himself, as he should.

“Well, he wanted to save me by going in my place, but that obviously was a very bad idea, because I had the idea of killing him with the sword, so he nearly killed himself and I had to save him.” Telling the story this way makes George seem quite dumb, but he has to agree, this was exactly how it went.

“But if I knew of your plan, I wouldn’t have come! I’m not that dumb”, he argues and the family laughs.

“But you didn’t know and nearly killed yourself, so I think you should thank me for this one”, Alex laughs before pressing a kiss onto George’s lips, catching him by a surprise. He didn’t expect him to come out right now, but instead of confusion, he only hears a lot of cheering. His cheeks heat up and he knows he’s completely red right now.

“Finally!” Alicia exclaims and George is really confused right now. Did they know? Of Alex being pansexual, of Alex liking him?

“We knew he liked you, sweetie”, his mother explains and when George turns to Alex, the boy nods shyly. “You know I tell my family everything”, he says while shrugging and George has to agree, he did know that.

“I’m happy I know now too”, he adds and Alex smiles before pulling him into a hug.

“I’m just happy we’re still alive.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! <3
> 
> follow me on tumblr ([myrsterious](https://myrsterious.tumblr.com/)) to scream about this fic, the winter break and just formula 1 in general :)


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